Karnataka Pharmacy Council (KPC) is now working to appoint pharmacy inspectors in all the 30 districts of the state. This is as per the requirements of the Pharmacy Practice Regulations 2015 enforced in January last year.

The Council is meeting in December end to deliberate on the plan of action to appoint the pharmacy inspectors. During the meeting it will discuss on the remuneration, nature of duties and subsequently delve into the financial implications of the same on the Council, KPC president DA Gundu Rao told Pharmabiz. “We are keen to utilize the services of the pharmacy inspectors who would monitor the retail and wholesale outlets. Currently this is done by the drug inspectors. There is a large pool of human resources for this in our state,” he added.

On hiring dedicated pharmacy inspectors as per the Pharmacy Practice Regulation 2015, Kerala has made headway in this. We are moving to have discussions with our state government on this. Our general council is keen to put in place the pharmacy inspectors at the earliest, he said.

The state government has given the acceptance to the Pharmacy Practice Regulation 2015 and so the hiring of pharmacy inspectors will go through smoothly. From the Council’s end it needs to look into the fund allocations and chalk out the modus operandi. We are confident that during the ensuing general council meeting next month, an action plan will be in place to hire the required pharmacy inspectors, said the KPC president.

Stating that the Pharmacy Practice Regulations 2015 is forward looking and comprehensive, Rao stated that it authorized both the state councils and drugs control departments to examine any violations including fake pharmacy degree or diploma certificates. The best part of the PPR 2015 is that it directs all qualified pharmacists present at the outlet to dispense drugs and counsel patients on medication consumption and possible drug reactions. It calls for the presence of a qualified pharmacist at all chemists and druggists outlets. In Karnataka there is considerable awareness of the Pharmacy Practice Regulations 2015 across the 29,000 pharmacy outlets across the 30 districts.

A positive aspect of the PPR 2015 is the cordial relationship of the state drugs control department to work in unison with the State Pharmacy Councils. This will be far easier to impose the Code of Pharmaceutical Ethics too, said Rao adding that if there was any failure to do so then violators will have to face dire consequences.